Fabrication and testing of a multifunctional SiO2@ZnO core–shell nanospheres incorporated polymer coating for sustainable marine transport

This paper of the day reports SiO2@ZnO core-shell nanospheres incorporated polyurethane media as a coating system to achieve longevity and sustainability in marine transport. This polymeric coating showed significant improvement in surface abrasion resistance, the transition from a hydrophilic state to a hydrophobic state (~ 125.2° ± 2°), and improved antifungal, antibacterial, and antialgae effects which make the proposed coating ideal for protecting steel surfaces against biofouling. The investigations led to find out that the addition of 4% (wt.) SiO2@ZnO core-shell nanoparticles to the PU media deposited on the low carbon steel surface demonstrated remarkable antimicrobial performance with almost no bacterial growth, and significant reductions in growth for algae to about 90% and fungus to about 95%.